The bunker
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Power from concrete
The office of the Reich Defense Commissioner Kaufmann
Emma Budge died in February 1937, after she had adapted her will several times to the changing political situation. After her death, her estate was sold to the City of Hamburg for 305,000 Reichsmark, far below its value, contrary to her original wishes. This marked the beginning of the most inglorious chapter in the history of the Budge couple's property.
The takeover of the Budge Villa is closely linked to Karl Kaufmann, a central figure in the National Socialist system of rule in Hamburg. His political activities were characterized by the ruthless exercise of power, persecution, economic enrichment and direct involvement in the crimes of the Nazi regime.
From 1936, Kaufmann gradually combined numerous positions of power in his person: he was NSDAP district leader, Reich governor, leader of the state government, head of the state administration and, from 1942, Reich Commissioner for Maritime Shipping. He ruthlessly exploited this wealth of office.
On December 11, 1937, just nine months after Emma Budge's death, the property, including the land and outbuildings, officially became the property of the City of Hamburg. The process was only possible thanks to the tricky actions of several people and authorities and is another example of the systematic expropriation of Jewish property by the Nazi regime.
After the takeover, the Budge Villa was converted into the representative headquarters of the Reich Governor's Office.
In November 1939, Kaufmann gave the order to build a separate "bunkered command post" in the garden of the Reich Governor's Office. The bunker was completed in June 1940. The structure was located around 4.20 meters below ground level, and initially only the approximately one-meter-high bunker ceiling was visible as a small hill. As it was feared that this ceiling would not withstand the bombing raids, an additional concrete slab - the so-called shattering layer - with a thickness of 2.45 meters was laid in 1942. The mound at the back of the university, which cannot be overlooked today, still bears witness to this dark period of German history.
After 1945, the bunker was used by the painting company "Herb. F. Trost" as a warehouse and office. However, research by the "Unter-Hamburg.ev" association was unable to find sufficient evidence of the company's existence in the commercial register or state archives. From 1970, the bunker served as a storage and storeroom for the university until its use was discontinued due to the high humidity.
On May 3, 1945, Reich Governor Karl Kaufmann and Major General Alwin Wolz surrendered Hamburg to the British forces without a fight. In the post-war period, this gave rise to the legend of the "good Nazi", which cast Kaufmann in a milder light. After the surrender, he was briefly arrested by the British. Despite his central role in the National Socialist system of rule and numerous documented crimes, he was never brought to justice. Kaufmann died in 1969 as a wealthy citizen in his home town. This, too, is part of the dark chapter of the Nazi era.
In the documentary "Macht aus Beton. Die Befehlsstelle des Reichsverteidigungskommissars Kaufmann" by Frank Böhme and Jack Sewell, Ronald Rossig from the Unter Hamburg e.V. association explains how the bunker worked and its significance. Further information can be found on the association's website at www.unter-hamburg.de.